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- Art. 5a FC
- Art. 6 FC
- Art. 10 FC
- Art. 16 FC
- Art. 17 FC
- Art. 20 FC
- Art. 22 FC
- Art. 29a FC
- Art. 30 FC
- Art. 32 FC
- Art. 42 FC
- Art. 43 FC
- Art. 43a FC
- Art. 55 FC
- Art. 56 FC
- Art. 60 FC
- Art. 68 FC
- Art. 75b FC
- Art. 77 FC
- Art. 96 para. 2 lit. a FC
- Art. 110 FC
- Art. 117a FC
- Art. 118 FC
- Art. 123b FC
- Art. 136 FC
- Art. 166 FC
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- Art. 11 CO
- Art. 12 CO
- Art. 50 CO
- Art. 51 CO
- Art. 84 CO
- Art. 143 CO
- Art. 144 CO
- Art. 145 CO
- Art. 146 CO
- Art. 147 CO
- Art. 148 CO
- Art. 149 CO
- Art. 150 CO
- Art. 701 CO
- Art. 715 CO
- Art. 715a CO
- Art. 734f CO
- Art. 785 CO
- Art. 786 CO
- Art. 787 CO
- Art. 788 CO
- Transitional provisions to the revision of the Stock Corporation Act of June 19, 2020
- Art. 808c CO
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- Art. 2 PRA
- Art. 3 PRA
- Art. 4 PRA
- Art. 6 PRA
- Art. 10 PRA
- Art. 10a PRA
- Art. 11 PRA
- Art. 12 PRA
- Art. 13 PRA
- Art. 14 PRA
- Art. 15 PRA
- Art. 16 PRA
- Art. 17 PRA
- Art. 19 PRA
- Art. 20 PRA
- Art. 21 PRA
- Art. 22 PRA
- Art. 23 PRA
- Art. 24 PRA
- Art. 25 PRA
- Art. 26 PRA
- Art. 27 PRA
- Art. 29 PRA
- Art. 30 PRA
- Art. 31 PRA
- Art. 32 PRA
- Art. 32a PRA
- Art. 33 PRA
- Art. 34 PRA
- Art. 35 PRA
- Art. 36 PRA
- Art. 37 PRA
- Art. 38 PRA
- Art. 39 PRA
- Art. 40 PRA
- Art. 41 PRA
- Art. 42 PRA
- Art. 43 PRA
- Art. 44 PRA
- Art. 45 PRA
- Art. 46 PRA
- Art. 47 PRA
- Art. 48 PRA
- Art. 49 PRA
- Art. 50 PRA
- Art. 51 PRA
- Art. 52 PRA
- Art. 53 PRA
- Art. 54 PRA
- Art. 55 PRA
- Art. 56 PRA
- Art. 57 PRA
- Art. 58 PRA
- Art. 59a PRA
- Art. 59b PRA
- Art. 59c PRA
- Art. 62 PRA
- Art. 63 PRA
- Art. 67 PRA
- Art. 67a PRA
- Art. 67b PRA
- Art. 75 PRA
- Art. 75a PRA
- Art. 76 PRA
- Art. 76a PRA
- Art. 90 PRA
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- Vorb. zu Art. 1 FADP
- Art. 1 FADP
- Art. 2 FADP
- Art. 3 FADP
- Art. 5 lit. f und g FADP
- Art. 6 Abs. 6 and 7 FADP
- Art. 7 FADP
- Art. 10 FADP
- Art. 11 FADP
- Art. 12 FADP
- Art. 14 FADP
- Art. 15 FADP
- Art. 19 FADP
- Art. 20 FADP
- Art. 22 FADP
- Art. 23 FADP
- Art. 25 FADP
- Art. 26 FADP
- Art. 27 FADP
- Art. 31 para. 2 lit. e FADP
- Art. 33 FADP
- Art. 34 FADP
- Art. 35 FADP
- Art. 38 FADP
- Art. 39 FADP
- Art. 40 FADP
- Art. 41 FADP
- Art. 42 FADP
- Art. 43 FADP
- Art. 44 FADP
- Art. 44a FADP
- Art. 45 FADP
- Art. 46 FADP
- Art. 47 FADP
- Art. 47a FADP
- Art. 48 FADP
- Art. 49 FADP
- Art. 50 FADP
- Art. 51 FADP
- Art. 54 FADP
- Art. 57 FADP
- Art. 58 FADP
- Art. 60 FADP
- Art. 61 FADP
- Art. 62 FADP
- Art. 63 FADP
- Art. 64 FADP
- Art. 65 FADP
- Art. 66 FADP
- Art. 67 FADP
- Art. 69 FADP
- Art. 72 FADP
- Art. 72a FADP
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- Art. 2 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 3 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 4 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 5 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 6 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 7 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 8 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 9 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 11 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 12 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 25 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 29 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 32 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 33 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 34 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
FEDERAL CONSTITUTION
CODE OF OBLIGATIONS
FEDERAL LAW ON PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW
LUGANO CONVENTION
CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
CIVIL PROCEDURE CODE
FEDERAL ACT ON POLITICAL RIGHTS
CIVIL CODE
FEDERAL ACT ON CARTELS AND OTHER RESTRAINTS OF COMPETITION
FEDERAL ACT ON INTERNATIONAL MUTUAL ASSISTANCE IN CRIMINAL MATTERS
DEBT ENFORCEMENT AND BANKRUPTCY ACT
FEDERAL ACT ON DATA PROTECTION
SWISS CRIMINAL CODE
CYBERCRIME CONVENTION
- I. Purpose and Scope of Art. 12 CO
- II. Amending/Modifying and Supplementing a Contract
- III. «Supplementary collateral clauses»
- IV. Art. 12 CO vs. 115 CO
- V. Legal Effects if the parties fail to comply with Art. 12 CO
- Bibliography
I. Purpose and Scope of Art. 12 CO
1 Art. 12 CO is in principle a supplement to Art. 11 CO. Unless special provisions apply
II. Amending/Modifying and Supplementing a Contract
2 Amending a contract or a specific provision therein, respectively, means either (i) modifying the contract or (ii) supplementing the contract by adding additional provisions without modifying its essential content.
The modification of a contract means that a contractual provision is either completely deleted or replaced by another (e.g. by changing a certain deadline, by allowing installments instead of lump sum payments or by modifying the pledge
See BGE 95 IV 113 consid 1. , etc.). Art. 12 CO also applies when a contract is transferred in its entirety to a third party.However, for conflicting views in legal doctrine and inconsistencies in the case law of the Federal Supreme Court see BK-Müller, Art. 12 OR footnote to N. 21; for a further explanation see also ZK-Jäggi, Art. 12 OR N. 6 et seq. However, Art. 12 CO does not apply if the parties further describe or define already existing contractual obligations.E.g. if the contractual parties agree that the execution of the agreement, which they originally agreed to be «in the second half of 2023», will be «on 31 November 2023», see ZK-Jäggi, Art. 12 OR N. 16, see also BGE 95 II 310 consid. 3. This can be done in any form.
By supplementing a contract pursuant to Art. 12 CO the parties add a provision to their existing (form-requiring) contract.
E.g. when one party undertakes to pay for the storage or additional transportation costs of an object; for further examples see BK-Schmidlin, Art. 12 OR N. 17 et seq.; ZK-Jäggi, Art. 12 OR N. 8.
3 In practice, contracts can be amended/modified either by (i) destroying the old and issuing new contract documents/certificates, (ii) issuing separate addenda to the existing contract or (iii) correcting the relevant provision(s) by hand. However, it is not advisable to use the latter method due to the difficulty of future proofing.
III. «Supplementary collateral clauses»
4 As an exception to the above rule, Art. 12 CO refers to «ergänzende Nebenbestimmungen» or «stipulations complémentaires», which translate into English as «supplementary collateral clauses» of a contract.
5 Such «collateral clauses», which merely specify or supplement a contract or which only affect non-essential clauses of a contract, do not have to comply with any specific formal requirements, unless the provision(s) is/are in conflict with the original document. However, if a «collateral clause» contradicts the main contract, but does not itself have to meet any specific formal requirements (i.e. if it does not contain subjectively or objectively essential points of a contract
IV. Art. 12 CO vs. 115 CO
6 Art. 115 CO has similarities with Art. 12 CO. According to Art. 115 CO, no particular form is required for the extinction of a claim by agreement even when the obligation itself could not be assumed without satisfying certain formal requirements required by law or elected by the parties. This means that, under certain conditions, a party may extinguish a debt without complying with any particular form.
7 In order to prevent contractual parties from circumventing Art. 12 CO, legal doctrine and case law have developed certain theories to distinguish between the two provisions. In the case of unilateral contracts (where only one party waives a claim), Art. 115 CO is supposed to override Art. 12 CO. However, Art. 115 CO does not apply in the case of a (synallagmatic) contract, unless all obligations are completely cancelled and the contract is revoked in its entirety.
8 If an obligation is merely reduced or weakened for one party, as it is the case when only one party's obligation is cancelled or modified, Art. 12 CO remains applicable (as this is most likely to have a negative effect on the other party's obligation(s)).
9 In practice, it should be noted that, especially in the case of public notarization, the revoked act (e.g. a real estate transaction) might still appear in the land register (on which third parties may rely on in good faith).
V. Legal Effects if the parties fail to comply with Art. 12 CO
10 If the contractual parties amend their main contract without following the formal requirements, the amendment is considered invalid. The «old» contract remains in force.
Bibliography
Brütsch Susanne, Commentary to Art. 11 CO, in: Christoph Hurni/Mirjam Eggen (eds.), Onlinekommentar zum Obligationenrecht, https://onlinekommentar.ch/en/kommentare/or11, visited on 30.5.2023, (cit. OK-Brütsch).
Gauch Peter/Stöckli Hubert, Präjudizienbuch OR, Die Rechtsprechung des Bundesgerichts (1875–2020), 10. Edition, Zurich 2021.
Jäggi Peter, Commentary to Art. 12 CO, in: Schönenberger Wilhelm/Jäggi Peter (eds.), Zürcher Kommentar, Kommentar zum Schweizerischen Zivilgesetzbuch, Obligationenrecht, Kommentar zu den Art. 1–17 OR, 3. Edition, Zurich 1973 (cit. ZK-Jäggi).
Müller Christoph, Commentary to Art. 12 CO, in: Aebi-Müller Regina/Müller Christoph (eds.), Berner Kommentar, Obligationenrecht, Allgemeine Bestimmungen, Art. 1–18 OR mit Einleitung in das Schweizerische Obligationenrecht, Bern 2018 (cit. BK-Müller).
Schmidlin Bruno, Commentary to Art. 12 CO, in: Kramer Ernst/Scmidlin Bruno (eds.), Berner Kommentar, Obligationenrecht, Allgemeine Einleitung in das schweizerische Obligationenrecht und Kommentar zu Art. 1–18 OR, Bern 1986 (cit. BK-Schmidlin).
Schwenzer Ingeborg, Kommentierung zu Art. 12 OR, in: Widmer Lüchinger Corinne/Oser David (eds.), Basler Kommentar, Obligationenrecht I, 7. Edition, Basel 2019 (cit. BSK-Schwenzer).
Xoudis Julia, Commentary to Art. 12 CO, in: Thevenoz Luc/Werro Franz (eds.), Commentaire romand, Code des obligations I, 3. Edition, 2021 (cit. CR-Xoudis).